Tricia Montgomery: Fighting Pet Cancer for Greater Awareness
In this week's show, the Whisker Report dives into publicizing animal welfare nonprofits. Meet former animal welfare executive Tricia Montgomery, who recently started Moose's March, a national nonprofit looking to raise awareness of pet cancer. Montgomery started the nonprofit after the loss of her rescue dog Moose, who died of the disease just a few months after being diagnosed. Her grief turned to action, after she found a lack of support in dealing with her loss. Today, Moose's March is helping pet owners all over the country through education and the creation of a special community.
Listen to Episode #6 Now:
BIO:
Tricia Montgomery is the visionary behind Moose's March, a 501c3 organization dedicated to making early detection of pet cancer accessible to everyone regardless of gender, race or income level.
A senior executive with over 25 years' experience in animal welfare and pet industry, she has the skills necessary to bring leadership, program development and visibility that will generate growth and resources for her mission.
With expertise in proactive strategic leadership, global research & market trends, fundraising and corporate social responsibility as well as public speaking & media relations – plus an innate ability to influence stakeholders – Tricia drives her mission of "Marching for More Memories" towards success.
She is committed to creating a future where early detection of pet cancer leads toward better outcomes for all animals – achieving lasting impact through excellence in leading initiatives with vision and innovation.
Transcript:
Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Mary Tan: Welcome to the Whisker Report.
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Mary Tan: We are a brand new podcast dedicated to helping pet industry professionals learn the basics of PR and marketing.
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Mary Tan: I'm Mary Tan, and I am the host, and I have a really wonderful colleague across the pond, Alexane Ricard, who also is a voice of the Whisker Report.
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Mary Tan: Bonjour, Alexane.
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Alexane Ricard: Bonjour, tout le monde.
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Alexane Ricard: I'm so excited for this show today.
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Alexane Ricard: We have one of the person with the biggest heart that I've ever met, Tricia Montgomery of Moose's March.
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Alexane Ricard: And so we're going to introduce her to you in a second.
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Alexane Ricard: But first, I just want to introduce you to Mark Winter of Pet Life Radio, our producer, who gets us to you each and every week.
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Alexane Ricard: How are you, Mark?
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Mark Winter: Bonjour! I'm good.
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Mark Winter: I love saying that. Bonjour!
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Alexane Ricard: By the end of this show, you'll have the perfect French accent.
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Mark Winter: I know.
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Mary Tan: All right.
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Mary Tan: Well, we're so honored, of course, to be part of the Pet Life Radio Network.
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Mary Tan: And you can do PR for yourself.
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Mary Tan: And Alex, Mark, and I are going to make sure we're going to do everything to try to help you.
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Alexane Ricard: For sure.
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Alexane Ricard: And so today we have Tricia Montgomery, who not only runs the national non-profit Moose's March, she's also an entrepreneur.
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Alexane Ricard: Tricia, you wear so many hats.
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Alexane Ricard: Can you just tell us a bit about yourself, introduce yourself, who are you?
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Tricia Montgomery: So I'm just going to go bonjour.
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Tricia Montgomery: I will be the best Southern twang I've ever heard for a French accent.
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Tricia Montgomery: It is such an honor to be with you guys today and thank you for having me.
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Tricia Montgomery: I'm Tricia Montgomery.
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Tricia Montgomery: I have been in the veterinary profession, pet industry and animal welfare for over 25 years.
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Tricia Montgomery: I first started with the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association as their public education director and their executive director.
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Tricia Montgomery: And that actually started from my story of being very obese and losing weight with my dog.
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Tricia Montgomery: And it was all because a beautiful veterinarian really saw me and had a heart-to-heart talk with me per se.
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Tricia Montgomery: So I was with the Chicago VMA as their public education director and their executive director.
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Tricia Montgomery: During that time, I also got to do the PR for the International Kennel Club Show of Chicago as well.
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Tricia Montgomery: That was part of our duties as well.
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Tricia Montgomery: I left the CVMA in 2008 and I began to start K9 Fit Clubs, which were gyms for people and dogs all across the country.
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Tricia Montgomery: At one point we had 80 licensed locations and just an incredible time, absolutely incredible time.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I leaned upon my veterinary profession and the people that were part of me within the veterinary profession.
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Tricia Montgomery: I had the good fortune to be on the Today Show numerous times, Good Morning America, Fox News, NPR, BBC.
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Tricia Montgomery: I mean, it was a very incredible time for us.
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Tricia Montgomery: Media was certainly out there.
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Tricia Montgomery: As I was in the process of selling the company in 2019, I realized that I wanted to be trifecta per se.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so that was the veterinary profession.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I'd been in the pet industry and really crossed over into the health industry.
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Tricia Montgomery: Crossing those two, kind of crossing the streams like Ghostbusters.
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Tricia Montgomery: You can do that though.
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Tricia Montgomery: As opposed to Bill where you can't cross the streams, you can cross the streams.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I wanted to go into animal welfare, so I put my name out there and received a number of opportunities.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I decided upon Columbus, georgia.
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Tricia Montgomery: I went where I was needed.
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Tricia Montgomery: Then I became CEO for Ployshe Maine Society.
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Tricia Montgomery: That was right before the pandemic hit.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so that was a very interesting time.
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Tricia Montgomery: Just coming brand new into an organization and working with them through unchartered waters, as I called it.
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Tricia Montgomery: And we did amazing.
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Tricia Montgomery: I'm really so proud that this turned the organization around, turned a struggling veterinary clinic to where they were going to close it until a three-doctor practice.
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Tricia Montgomery: Received more donations than we've ever received before.
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Tricia Montgomery: It really turned everything around for them.
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Tricia Montgomery: And then I realized that I'm better nationally than I am locally.
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Tricia Montgomery: As I always say, I'm better on the outside than I am on the inside because I feel like I can do so much more for people and for organizations.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so I continued to work with them.
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Tricia Montgomery: But I stepped down as CEO and then I've been consulting.
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Tricia Montgomery: In late May 22, my dog Moose passed away of cancer and it really, it destroyed me.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think that's the only word that I can use for that is I shot myself on the floor and I didn't want to go on.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I've never been struck with grief of that magnitude ever before in my life.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think it was my father had passed away the year before my dad and my mom passed away and then Moose passed away.
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Tricia Montgomery: It was like, wow.
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Tricia Montgomery: And out of my grief, and I always say this, thank you to my beautiful sister Cheryl and the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement.
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Tricia Montgomery: I was able to come to find a way out.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I created Moose's March out of that grief.
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Tricia Montgomery: And we're a 501c3 dedicated to the early detection of pet cancer and we go across the country nationwide.
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Tricia Montgomery: And we provide early detection tests to veterinary clinics within animal shelter in underserved areas.
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Tricia Montgomery: We also work with universities.
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Tricia Montgomery: We do have limited grants for some of those universities where you can help with pet cancer treatments.
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Tricia Montgomery: I also have a podcast called The Pet's Your Family Podcast, Mary, you've been a guest on back.
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Mary Tan: Yes, that was so fun.
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Tricia Montgomery: I know, we always have fun.
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Tricia Montgomery: I always have fun.
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Tricia Montgomery: And then I work as a liaison for a beautiful company called Farming Art Products.
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Tricia Montgomery: And then I am also involved in our project in, actually in Saudi Arabia for The Line.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I'm working towards then building the city with infrastructure and all.
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Tricia Montgomery: It's just a very incredible project that will be finishing up 2030.
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Tricia Montgomery: So I have the good fortune and the blessing to be involved in so many different companies and organizations.
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Mary Tan: That is amazing.
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Mary Tan: I have a question for you.
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Mary Tan: You've worked in for-profit and non-profit.
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Mary Tan: Can you describe what it was like doing PR for for-profit versus non-profit?
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Mary Tan: Do you think it was the same or did you have to change any?
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Tricia Montgomery: Well, first of all, for non-for-profit versus for-profit, I think it's easy to look at non-for-profit and go, everything's going to come to us because we are a non-for-profit.
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Tricia Montgomery: That is not the truth.
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Tricia Montgomery: You've got to work twice as hard.
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Tricia Montgomery: You've got to really, because of all the competition, especially in animal welfare, you really have to make sure that your messaging is on point and that you're getting to things early, that there's a line in a book, and that you're really getting your message across.
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Tricia Montgomery: For-profit organizations tend to have a larger budget to work with to where you can make the proper, per se, hires or have somebody in-house doing that work.
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Tricia Montgomery: But I think the commonality in both of them is the relationship that you create and connecting with people.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think if you've got that gift and if your organization has got that gift, then I think you're well on your way to creating awareness for that organization that you're representing.
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Mary Tan: Are there any specific campaigns, not to put you on the spot, that you really, like some best practices that worked for you that maybe other pet businesses or nonprofits could learn from?
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Tricia Montgomery: Well, I think it's a lesson of never give up.
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Tricia Montgomery: I will take you back to the days of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association when I was public education director.
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Tricia Montgomery: I think the year was 2003, 2004, not sure, and I had an idea that I wanted to bring dogs to the ballpark.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so if you go back in time, that was actually me and working with Steve Dale and we had an idea.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so I went to Wrigley Park and they basically just left me out of the park.
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Tricia Montgomery: And then I went to the Chicago White Sox at the time.
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Tricia Montgomery: And there was a man by the name of Dan Pulver there, who had a beautiful German shepherd and he got it.
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Tricia Montgomery: And it took us probably, I don't know, maybe to at least two years to get it off the ground.
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Tricia Montgomery: But when we got it off the ground, it was something incredible that now is something nationwide, that people around the US celebrate with their dogs, taking their dogs to the ballpark.
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Tricia Montgomery: I think it's something of tenacity, it's dedication.
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Tricia Montgomery: And if you have an idea, don't give up on it.
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Tricia Montgomery: If you really believe in your heart that this is a really good idea, keep trying.
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Tricia Montgomery: I will also say, I don't know everything.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I will never ever profess to knowing everything.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think that it's always wise to gather people around you who are known more than you.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I don't want to say better than you, but they are better than you in the field of their expertise.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so I always say surround yourself with people who can advance your cause farther, who have a connection.
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Tricia Montgomery: And they're going to be able to really assist you in moving things forward.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think that's one of the best gifts that I can give is, you know, know your lane and surround yourself with people who are great and never burn bridges.
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Mary Tan: That's amazing!
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Mary Tan: We're going to take a quick break and we're going to learn more from Tricia right after this.
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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.
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Alexane Ricard: And we're back.
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Alexane Ricard: I actually have a question for you, Tricia.
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Alexane Ricard: So Moose's March is your non-profit, and I was wondering, what kind of PR challenges have you had with Moose's March as a non-profit?
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Alexane Ricard: Like, what kind of challenges?
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Tricia Montgomery: Getting through the noise, cutting through the noise, because we first launched as a program in October of 22, and then we became our own 501c3 in 2023.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I actually knew that I, as much as I do PR, I wanted to have somebody who was better than me and could perhaps push the message more than me.
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Tricia Montgomery: So I actually hired Whisker Media and they did just a beautiful job.
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Tricia Montgomery: I think they're, especially during those days, like giving Tuesday, there are so many people competing for that dollar and that space.
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Tricia Montgomery: How do you place yourself above that?
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think being on point with messaging, being on point with who you are and your purpose, what you're going for from a standpoint of why am I raising funds?
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Tricia Montgomery: Who am I raising funds for?
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Tricia Montgomery: The beauty about Moose's March and that I think throughout my life, I've had a personal story attached to things, whether canine pig love, that was a story of me losing 130 pounds with my dog.
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Tricia Montgomery: Moose's March is a very personal story for me with Moose, losing Moose, it gone within two weeks of stage 4 lymphoma.
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Tricia Montgomery: There's been a personal connection to the audience.
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Tricia Montgomery: But I think to answer your question, Alexane, it's cutting through the noise and finding that right message and being on point with that message.
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Alexane Ricard: You're coming from a PR background, so you've done PR for a while, but do you find it hard to do PR for yourself because Moose's March is so personal and it's your personal story, so do you find it hard to do PR for your own self or your own story?
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Tricia Montgomery: I do, I do.
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Tricia Montgomery: I am a firm believer that CEOs or founders should not promote themselves.
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Tricia Montgomery: That's just my opinion because I think that you're running the organization, you're wearing many, many hats, and now, hey, I'm Tricia Montgomery, and I want you to interview me about the days of the PR stories where you could pick up the phone and call somebody and go, hey, I've got an idea, come on with a product.
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Tricia Montgomery: Those just don't happen anymore.
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Tricia Montgomery: I think you've got to be very concise in your approach, who you're talking to, the media, and if at all possible, to be able to hire someone that can do, I don't want to say the word better than you.
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Tricia Montgomery: That's not fair, but I do want to say somebody who knows the business and the businesses of media that could place you and you could gain more awareness, so your organization grows stronger and more successful.
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Mary Tan: I have a question.
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Mary Tan: I hear so many business owners and rescue leaders tell me, you know what, I can't hire anybody to do PR or marketing for me.
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Mary Tan: I just don't know what I'm doing and I need help and some guidance, but I can't pay you.
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Mary Tan: Tricia, how did you learn the basics of getting attention for all the different businesses and nonprofits?
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Tricia Montgomery: Mary, I don't know.
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Tricia Montgomery: I think I have a gift that I'm very me and I don't try to pull any punches about who I am not.
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Tricia Montgomery: I make mistakes and I own those mistakes and I think just being real with people and saying, hey, I don't know what I'm doing.
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Tricia Montgomery: I need help and I have made massive mistakes before.
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Tricia Montgomery: I don't know if I can share this story with you, but I think that I can.
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Tricia Montgomery: Way back when, when I became public education director for the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association, and we're going back to 1993.
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Tricia Montgomery: I was so proud of it and so I'm like, I'm going to write a press release and I'm going to apologize to everybody and so I had this massive list of people from the Sun Time, Chicago Tribune, WMAQ, all of these amazing people.
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Tricia Montgomery: And so I wrote a press release and according to our guidelines, I had to pass it through the Public Education Committee, which were this esteemed group of veterinarians who've been on the Public Education Committee forever and ever and ever and ever.
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Tricia Montgomery: And they looked at the press release, everything was absolutely fantastic.
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Tricia Montgomery: Blowing remarks, thank you so much.
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Tricia Montgomery: Synodals.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think about, I don't know, maybe four hours later, five hours later, I received a phone call from someone from the Chicago Sun Times.
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Tricia Montgomery: And she's like, hi, this is, I don't know what I'm going to mention.
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Tricia Montgomery: This is from the Chicago Sun Times.
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Tricia Montgomery: And how are you?
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Tricia Montgomery: Are you Tricia?
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Tricia Montgomery: And I said, yes, I am.
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Tricia Montgomery: Well, tell me about your new role in what you're doing.
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Tricia Montgomery: So I was very excited telling her more.
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Tricia Montgomery: And this continued on, this banter continued on.
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Tricia Montgomery: And she said, do you actually read your analysis that you're sending out?
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Tricia Montgomery: And I go, oh, yes, ma'am, I do.
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Tricia Montgomery: And she said, and I go, we have a committee that reviews it.
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Tricia Montgomery: She goes, well, next time you may want to like, look at the spelling.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I forget things I've heard.
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Tricia Montgomery: I had left the L out of public.
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Tricia Montgomery: First time, first time for sending out a press release and left out a very important letter.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I reviewed it, my committee reviewed it, my husband at the time reviewed it.
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Tricia Montgomery: We all make mistakes.
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Tricia Montgomery: And just, you know, I think that's why it's always so good.
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Mary Tan: Yeah.
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Tricia Montgomery: I mean, you guys, we all make mistakes in owning that and now being able to laugh at that, you know, 30 years later, but you can go, well, this happened to me and let me tell you, and I unliterally went at the ground, you know, swallow me up whole and just like, but that happened.
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Tricia Montgomery: So know that you're going to make mistakes and know that these things can happen and to be able to laugh about it and go, you know, I am green, I am so new, but I really like your help.
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Tricia Montgomery: And I think that that actually turned into good because we actually got a column in the Chicago Sun Times later.
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Tricia Montgomery: So yes.
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Mary Tan: That's amazing.
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Mary Tan: And you know, that's really unique that the reporter called you to point that out to you.
00:16:36.140 --> 00:16:49.780
Mary Tan: Usually the people that are like really invested in you, they probably wanted to make sure that your organization looked good because a lot of people think that the the news media and and, you know, the public are enemies.
00:16:49.780 --> 00:16:51.420
Mary Tan: Some people would want you to think that.
00:16:51.420 --> 00:16:55.840
Mary Tan: But a lot of times a lot of the reporters have your best interest in mind.
00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:56.680
Tricia Montgomery: They do.
00:16:56.680 --> 00:16:56.980
Mary Tan: They do.
00:16:58.120 --> 00:16:59.700
Tricia Montgomery: She played cat and mouse with me, though.
00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:03.040
Tricia Montgomery: She played this little game back and forth.
00:17:03.040 --> 00:17:04.420
Tricia Montgomery: She was like, no.
00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:06.840
Mary Tan: Yeah.
00:17:07.040 --> 00:17:11.280
Mary Tan: And that showcases the importance of having somebody else.
00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:14.320
Mary Tan: Now, yours is really unique because it went through how many people?
00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:16.560
Mary Tan: Twenty, thirty people before?
00:17:16.560 --> 00:17:18.440
Tricia Montgomery: It might say close to twelve people.
00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:19.700
Tricia Montgomery: It went through before that.
00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:19.920
Tricia Montgomery: Yep.
00:17:20.300 --> 00:17:21.000
Mary Tan: Wow.
00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:24.140
Mary Tan: And that just goes a different set of eyes.
00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:32.220
Mary Tan: I mean, I always have somebody else look at our press releases, Alex censors to me and reverse that too.
00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:37.180
Mary Tan: And it's really important because I've had situations where mistakes have gone.
00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.320
Mary Tan: And you know how fast things spread in the media, right?
00:17:40.320 --> 00:17:41.280
Mary Tan: Like to you.
00:17:41.280 --> 00:17:41.840
Mary Tan: Yeah.
00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:42.420
Tricia Montgomery: Yeah.
00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:46.080
Mary Tan: It's just it can go all the way to the network, incorrect, you know.
00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:47.280
Mary Tan: So it's important.
00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:51.900
Mary Tan: But wow, that is amazing.
00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:56.640
Mary Tan: Well, we need to take another quick break and then we'll come back to Tricia again.
00:17:58.760 --> 00:18:01.220
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00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:43.040
Daryl Michelson: Let's talk pets.
00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:44.980
Mary Tan: On Pet Life Radio.
00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:46.300
Mary Tan: PetLifeRadio.
00:18:46.300 --> 00:18:48.520
Announcer: petliferadio.com.
00:18:58.172 --> 00:18:59.712
Alexane Ricard: And we're back again.
00:18:59.712 --> 00:19:07.912
Alexane Ricard: Another little question for you, Tricia, is so you wear so many hats, you do so many different things, you're involved in so many different projects.
00:19:07.912 --> 00:19:10.252
Alexane Ricard: How do you stay organized?
00:19:10.252 --> 00:19:12.352
Alexane Ricard: How do you stay on top of everything?
00:19:12.352 --> 00:19:14.972
Tricia Montgomery: It's interesting, I don't keep everything in my head.
00:19:14.972 --> 00:19:21.792
Tricia Montgomery: I actually write things down, and I take my day and I divide it into different segments of what is needed to do.
00:19:21.792 --> 00:19:29.732
Tricia Montgomery: I prioritize very well as far as, you know, this is my A project, this is my B project, this is my C, can this wait?
00:19:29.732 --> 00:19:32.272
Tricia Montgomery: I assess things probably midday.
00:19:32.272 --> 00:19:37.312
Tricia Montgomery: I look at them again and determine what I'm going to do, what I'm not going to do, can this be eliminated?
00:19:37.312 --> 00:19:39.272
Tricia Montgomery: Has one project taken longer?
00:19:39.272 --> 00:19:46.152
Tricia Montgomery: I'm a pretty organized person, I have to say that, but I think I'm gifted that way, so I'm able to multitask things.
00:19:46.152 --> 00:19:52.652
Tricia Montgomery: And I find that everything that I do actually complements each other in some way, shape, form or the other.
00:19:52.652 --> 00:20:04.192
Tricia Montgomery: So if I'm talking about, you know, whether it's from a farming yard and it's about animal welfare, that actually complements Moose's March or it complements my other roles.
00:20:04.192 --> 00:20:16.532
Tricia Montgomery: And I think that it's just, from that standpoint, it's important to be organized, it's important to make a list, being able to, you know, write down what you need to do and follow that.
00:20:16.532 --> 00:20:19.392
Tricia Montgomery: Because if you don't, you're lost before you start.
00:20:19.392 --> 00:20:22.012
Tricia Montgomery: I always spend my week on Sunday night.
00:20:22.012 --> 00:20:30.792
Tricia Montgomery: So Sunday night, I have my list of items that I'm doing, what I'm doing, what I need to accomplish, what's going to be the priority.
00:20:30.792 --> 00:20:32.972
Tricia Montgomery: And then I look at that throughout the week.
00:20:32.972 --> 00:20:38.972
Tricia Montgomery: I also have what I love to call my three by five note cards, and I have three by five note cards.
00:20:38.972 --> 00:20:45.852
Tricia Montgomery: And so I take notes on each of those, and I make sure that every one of those check marks are gone by the end of the day.
00:20:45.852 --> 00:20:55.612
Tricia Montgomery: I'm working a lot of hours, so I probably begin work around 4.30 in the morning, or I start my day around 4.30 in the morning, and I really don't stop till probably 8 p.m.
00:20:55.612 --> 00:20:57.952
Tricia Montgomery: at night time, and that's Monday to Thursday.
00:20:57.952 --> 00:21:02.432
Tricia Montgomery: I find with me work-life balance is very easy because I love what I do.
00:21:02.432 --> 00:21:04.932
Tricia Montgomery: I love, love, love what I do.
00:21:04.932 --> 00:21:07.112
Tricia Montgomery: I always make time for others.
00:21:07.112 --> 00:21:10.252
Tricia Montgomery: I always make time for other things too, and fun things.
00:21:10.252 --> 00:21:17.552
Tricia Montgomery: But I so enjoy what I do because I give back, and that gives me the greatest pleasure of all.
00:21:17.552 --> 00:21:19.172
Mary Tan: You have such a big heart.
00:21:19.172 --> 00:21:21.512
Mary Tan: Alex and I talked about that all the time.
00:21:22.032 --> 00:21:30.852
Mary Tan: Especially when we were promoting Moose's March, and anybody, if you've met Tricia, it doesn't matter how many times you tell the story.
00:21:30.852 --> 00:21:37.872
Mary Tan: The story of Moose is so, it touches you every single time you talk about it, and what happened to you.
00:21:37.872 --> 00:21:39.352
Tricia Montgomery: Yeah, it does.
00:21:39.832 --> 00:21:43.792
Tricia Montgomery: I rescued him during the pandemic, when I didn't want to adopt another dog.
00:21:44.772 --> 00:21:49.912
Tricia Montgomery: My dog had passed, my dog Zeus had passed away from Cushings, and I just was not ready for another dog.
00:21:49.912 --> 00:21:57.392
Tricia Montgomery: And then it was my birthday during the pandemic, and I'm like, this is the worst birthday ever.
00:21:57.392 --> 00:22:01.812
Tricia Montgomery: I don't have any friends, I don't have my furniture, we don't have anything.
00:22:01.812 --> 00:22:15.812
Tricia Montgomery: I'm in a town, I work seven days a week, and then I wandered in the back to make my rounds, as I usually did, it was a Saturday morning, and I looked at this dog and I went to Sally Gowans, the foster coordinator, I'm like, can I take him home and foster him for the weekend?
00:22:15.812 --> 00:22:19.892
Tricia Montgomery: And I had to go through the same steps that any foster would go through.
00:22:19.892 --> 00:22:22.172
Tricia Montgomery: I mean, I really did, there was no exceptions.
00:22:22.172 --> 00:22:27.532
Tricia Montgomery: And I think that's a good thing, just because I was CEO, there should be always be criteria.
00:22:27.532 --> 00:22:33.232
Tricia Montgomery: But yeah, I took him home and then brought him back on Monday morning and I'm like, you're not gonna stay with me.
00:22:33.232 --> 00:22:34.552
Tricia Montgomery: And then it was like, okay.
00:22:34.552 --> 00:22:37.132
Alexane Ricard: Yes.
00:22:37.132 --> 00:22:39.652
Mary Tan: So I have an animal welfare question for you.
00:22:40.072 --> 00:22:51.932
Mary Tan: During your time there, how did you deal with like compassion fatigue and the constant, you know, there's always something, an animal or a person that needs something.
00:22:51.932 --> 00:22:52.512
Mary Tan: Am I correct?
00:22:52.932 --> 00:22:57.312
Mary Tan: Was it harder in animal welfare than in for profit or is it just different?
00:22:57.312 --> 00:23:02.312
Tricia Montgomery: No, I would say being CEO, Proportioning Society was the toughest job I've ever had in my life.
00:23:02.312 --> 00:23:03.672
Tricia Montgomery: I will tell you that right now.
00:23:03.672 --> 00:23:13.492
Tricia Montgomery: I was on site every day, seven days a week, six days I was there roughly from six o'clock in the morning, 6.15 in the morning until probably 6:37 PM at night time.
00:23:13.492 --> 00:23:15.092
Tricia Montgomery: Then Sundays I would always come in too.
00:23:15.092 --> 00:23:20.412
Tricia Montgomery: I never, I think it took one vacation and that ended up just blowing up and then I had to come back.
00:23:20.412 --> 00:23:23.052
Tricia Montgomery: It's tough, especially during that time.
00:23:23.052 --> 00:23:24.312
Tricia Montgomery: It was an unknown.
00:23:24.312 --> 00:23:27.052
Tricia Montgomery: Again, I go back to the word uncharted territory.
00:23:27.052 --> 00:23:28.792
Tricia Montgomery: Emotions were running high.
00:23:28.792 --> 00:23:31.972
Tricia Montgomery: At that time, I had hired three veterinarians, Dr.
00:23:31.972 --> 00:23:34.072
Tricia Montgomery: Crystal White, Dr.
00:23:34.072 --> 00:23:34.852
Tricia Montgomery: Devin, and Dr.
00:23:34.852 --> 00:23:36.832
Tricia Montgomery: Matthews for our spay nuclear veterinarian.
00:23:37.232 --> 00:23:42.552
Tricia Montgomery: And we were running fast and hard and really servicing the community because we had a community owned.
00:23:42.552 --> 00:23:46.892
Tricia Montgomery: We took care of our own, and we also took care of Columbus Animal Care and Control Animals, too.
00:23:46.892 --> 00:23:52.012
Tricia Montgomery: So most people within animal welfare, you're also taking care of a government shelter as well.
00:23:52.012 --> 00:23:53.912
Tricia Montgomery: And then we would also work with all the rescuers.
00:23:53.912 --> 00:23:57.412
Tricia Montgomery: We had the only really operating veterinary clinic that was affordable.
00:23:57.412 --> 00:23:59.572
Tricia Montgomery: We had to move appointments outside.
00:23:59.572 --> 00:24:03.532
Tricia Montgomery: People were, there was rampant rumors that dogs were spreading COVID.
00:24:03.932 --> 00:24:09.232
Tricia Montgomery: It was a time that people just were constantly on edge.
00:24:09.232 --> 00:24:12.052
Tricia Montgomery: Turnover was extremely high.
00:24:12.052 --> 00:24:16.872
Tricia Montgomery: I think we had at one point 45 employees coming and going.
00:24:16.872 --> 00:24:27.072
Tricia Montgomery: And from budgetary standpoints, if any CEO or executive director or HCF owner knows it, every employee that comes to your door, you're spending about $1,500 on those employees.
00:24:27.072 --> 00:24:28.092
Tricia Montgomery: I had a gun pulled on me.
00:24:28.532 --> 00:24:35.912
Tricia Montgomery: One time, I got escorted home because a woman had given back her animal and she didn't like her decision.
00:24:35.912 --> 00:24:38.912
Tricia Montgomery: She came back and then she left notes.
00:24:38.912 --> 00:24:43.432
Tricia Montgomery: She came back with a white van with all of her friends and she had like ropes and all kinds of things.
00:24:43.812 --> 00:24:45.452
Tricia Montgomery: I'm not making this stuff up.
00:24:45.452 --> 00:24:53.752
Tricia Montgomery: And I don't think people understand this is what animal welfare goes through on a daily basis.
00:24:53.752 --> 00:24:56.312
Tricia Montgomery: And it's not just me or it wasn't just me.
00:24:56.472 --> 00:24:58.932
Tricia Montgomery: It was other organizations as well.
00:24:58.932 --> 00:25:05.592
Tricia Montgomery: Because the thing is we are so passionate and we love our animals so much and we would give them anything.
00:25:05.592 --> 00:25:09.792
Tricia Montgomery: And it's very hard because they can't speak for themselves.
00:25:09.792 --> 00:25:13.032
Tricia Montgomery: And so you're going by what I like to call anthropomorphism.
00:25:13.032 --> 00:25:15.132
Tricia Montgomery: So, oh my God, you know, I didn't eat it, blah, blah, blah.
00:25:15.132 --> 00:25:19.752
Tricia Montgomery: You know, and so you're trying to understand or surmise what's happened with the animal's health.
00:25:19.752 --> 00:25:21.892
Tricia Montgomery: And people can't afford things.
00:25:22.552 --> 00:25:31.212
Tricia Montgomery: And it was just, I've never, I've never been in a situation like that before in my life.
00:25:32.352 --> 00:25:35.252
Tricia Montgomery: And it was hard and, and compassion fatigue is real.
00:25:35.252 --> 00:25:36.172
Tricia Montgomery: It is real.
00:25:36.172 --> 00:25:38.212
Tricia Montgomery: Taking care of yourself is so important.
00:25:38.212 --> 00:25:48.092
Tricia Montgomery: In fact, I was just on the phone with, I'm going to admit, Wendy Black from Footbridge Foundation, who's absolutely beautiful and incredible organization in San Antonio, Texas.
00:25:48.092 --> 00:25:52.952
Tricia Montgomery: And I said, and she's been working so many hours, like most executive directors or CEOs do.
00:25:52.952 --> 00:25:54.432
Tricia Montgomery: And I said, please take time for you.
00:25:54.432 --> 00:25:57.112
Tricia Montgomery: I said, please take time because relationships suffer.
00:25:57.112 --> 00:26:01.692
Tricia Montgomery: And if you're, if you're not taking care of yourselves, everything else is going to fall away.
00:26:01.692 --> 00:26:08.172
Tricia Montgomery: It doesn't matter at the end of the day, if you work six days a week, seven days a week and you're bringing out all these donations and things like that.
00:26:08.172 --> 00:26:16.552
Tricia Montgomery: If you can't maintain yourself, if you can't sustain your own mental health and wellness, the cards are going to fall and that domino is going to go, you're going to crash.
00:26:16.552 --> 00:26:23.352
Tricia Montgomery: And I think for any animal welfare organization, Compassion and Fatigue is real, bring in resources, do something fun, take your staff out.
00:26:23.352 --> 00:26:31.992
Tricia Montgomery: I know Kate Quirrell Animal Shelter and Veterinary Clinic just had an ape day where they took all their employees to see the great apes and they got to interact with the apes.
00:26:31.992 --> 00:26:35.872
Tricia Montgomery: Do something fun for your staff, let them know that they're appreciated as well.
00:26:35.872 --> 00:26:39.032
Mary Tan: That's such great advice, Tricia.
00:26:39.032 --> 00:26:41.472
Mary Tan: Alex has kind of felt that too, right?
00:26:41.472 --> 00:26:45.912
Mary Tan: Alex, with your rescue and all the people dumping cats where you are.
00:26:45.912 --> 00:26:47.112
Alexane Ricard: Yeah, definitely.
00:26:47.372 --> 00:26:50.072
Alexane Ricard: So, my rescue based in Greece was really hard to deal with.
00:26:50.072 --> 00:27:00.412
Alexane Ricard: I mean, compression fatigue was an everyday thing because you deal with cats suffering all the time every time you step out of the door, but you also have to deal with the humans.
00:27:00.412 --> 00:27:08.632
Alexane Ricard: Humans not agreeing with what you're doing, even when we're trying to educate them and telling them, I'm really doing this for the cats to improve their life.
00:27:08.632 --> 00:27:11.492
Alexane Ricard: They just don't get it and they get really upset.
00:27:11.492 --> 00:27:28.332
Alexane Ricard: And the amount of time they get violent and you just don't know how to react because you come from a compassion place, you come from a good place, from a heart and kind place because you really want to help the animals, but it's hard to deal with the violence of the words or just like the physical violence coming from it.
00:27:28.332 --> 00:27:29.232
Tricia Montgomery: It is, it is.
00:27:29.232 --> 00:27:46.432
Tricia Montgomery: And actually, I can't tell you the amount of time that we had animals just tied, you know, the pole, like things left, somebody came and stole the, what is it, the carburetor of one of our vans, you know, and just like those things that you have to deal with on a daily basis.
00:27:46.432 --> 00:27:50.532
Tricia Montgomery: But I think the cruelty is one thing that I don't think I'll ever get past.
00:27:50.532 --> 00:27:55.352
Tricia Montgomery: And which is why I always say I'm better on the outside than the inside, because I am emotional.
00:27:55.352 --> 00:27:58.412
Tricia Montgomery: I come, I think I will always come from a place of love.
00:27:58.412 --> 00:28:10.092
Tricia Montgomery: And it's hard when you see those things that you've never really seen before, all of a sudden go, oh, wow, you know, and how do you deal with that and still rising above that?
00:28:10.492 --> 00:28:11.292
Mary Tan: Wow.
00:28:11.292 --> 00:28:15.992
Mary Tan: Well, Tricia, we are out of time, but how can people get a hold of you?
00:28:16.612 --> 00:28:17.812
Mary Tan: Why aren't you out of time?
00:28:17.812 --> 00:28:19.432
Mary Tan: Let's talk some more.
00:28:21.612 --> 00:28:22.752
Tricia Montgomery: Oh, my goodness.
00:28:22.752 --> 00:28:23.992
Tricia Montgomery: You can always reach out to me.
00:28:23.992 --> 00:28:30.712
Tricia Montgomery: You can find me on LinkedIn, on Facebook, or you can reach out to me at trisha at moosesmarch.com.
00:28:30.712 --> 00:28:33.732
Tricia Montgomery: That's T-R-I-C-I-A at moosesmarchmoosesmarch.com.
00:28:36.872 --> 00:28:38.072
Tricia Montgomery: You can visit our website.
00:28:38.392 --> 00:28:40.072
Tricia Montgomery: I'm pretty easy to get a hold of.
00:28:40.072 --> 00:28:40.872
Tricia Montgomery: I'm a mentor.
00:28:40.872 --> 00:28:43.592
Tricia Montgomery: I'm happy to talk and always happy to help people.
00:28:43.592 --> 00:28:57.172
Tricia Montgomery: And so I think in today's time and this world that we're living in, things are, you know, there's a lot going on right now, especially related to animal welfare and euthanasia and the crisis that we're in for animal welfare.
00:28:57.172 --> 00:28:58.692
Tricia Montgomery: And we're all in this together.
00:28:58.692 --> 00:29:04.132
Tricia Montgomery: And I think that if we all row together and we all lean upon each other, we're going to come out so much better on the other side.
00:29:05.052 --> 00:29:09.292
Mary Tan: You just leave wonderful messages and thoughts out there, Tricia.
00:29:09.292 --> 00:29:11.692
Mary Tan: Well, that's a wrap for this show.
00:29:11.692 --> 00:29:13.832
Mary Tan: We're so excited to be doing this.
00:29:13.832 --> 00:29:21.372
Mary Tan: Also, if you have a PR question or marketing question, please feel free to send it to us and we will address it on a future show.
00:29:21.372 --> 00:29:25.672
Mary Tan: You can find us on Facebook or Instagram at The Whisker Report.
00:29:25.672 --> 00:29:26.872
Mary Tan: So that's it for now.
00:29:26.872 --> 00:29:31.552
Mary Tan: But as we always say, bark loud and purr smart.
00:29:31.552 --> 00:29:33.192
Mary Tan: See you later.
00:29:33.192 --> 00:29:34.512
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets.
00:29:34.552 --> 00:29:36.532
Announcer: Every week on demand.
00:29:36.552 --> 00:29:39.192
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